I am a Weather Geek. And that weather geek is twin to my inner menu-planner. Last Thursday I got really excited after checking the weather forecast – 100% chance of rain all weekend! We had a really, really, really mild winter in Southern California this year. And for someone who cooks/bakes according to season and

Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Well, last weekend I “invented” a new chocolate chip cookie due in part to Madison’s new found love for white chocolate and an overabundance of nuts in the pantry. (Although some would say – including my mom – that there’s no such thing as an overabundance of nuts

I’ve always had a fondness for cocktails…… When I was 10, my uncle was living with us and was studying to become a bartender. I used to help him memorize cocktail ingredients using flashcards and the names captured my imagination: Tequila Sunrise, Zombie, Hurricane, White Russian. To a 10-year old it all sounded so exotic.

Hands-down one of my favorite meals to cook and eat – especially in Autumn – is homemade mac and cheese. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not above eating the “cheesiest” variety that comes in that blue box, but when I’m really craving some pasta and cheesy goodness, I’m all about making it from scratch. I’ve

After overcoming my fear of poisoning my dearest friends and family, I dove headfirst into the, “Great Fig Jam Making Experiment of 2011.” Let me just say that prepping 10lbs of very ripe figs is a very messy process. I had decided to follow a relatively easy, (and pectin-free) fig jam recipe I found online.

Some of my favorite anecdotes in “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” are in the chapters where Barbara Kingsolver describes preserving the fruits and vegetables from her family garden. “Putting up”, as some folks call it, was as common a practice as making bread until the American grocery store replaced the need to bake and preserve our own

Now that I’ve emerged from my Mad Men induced stupor, (complete with a full bar – but I don’t blame the show. I’ve always wanted a cool cabinet complete with different serving glasses, liquor and mixers and watching 52 episodes of the BEST PERIOD DRAMA EVER finally spurred me to do it,) I’m ready to

First, the good: Oatmeal is about as individual a breakfast item as you can get. Everyone has their own version: instant, flavored, quick, old fashioned; their own way of making it: stovetop, microwave, just-add-water; their own way of decorating it: milk, cream, nuts, berries, dried fruit or yogurt. Some just like making cookies out of

I knew I should have freakin’ written this post when inspiration arrived at my door in the form of “Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams At Home”, but as I’ve already explained, this summer was crazy and now, as I’m about to describe the ease with which I made my first ice creams, it’s decidedly NOT ice

Okay, yes I lifted the title from the Michael Jackson song that played incessantly during my Sophomore year in college while I diligently filled the salt and pepper shakers in the dining hall, but it’s all I could think of when I was asked via Facebook if I had any good chili recipes without beans